TO WHICH IS ADDED A DISCOURSE
JESUS CHRIST: THE REVELATION OF GOD
BY B. H. ROBERTS.
ALSO A COLLECTION OF AUTHORITATIVE MORMON UTTERANCES ON THE BEING ANDNATURE OF GOD.
"It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty thecharacter of God; and to know that we may converse with him as one manconverses with another."—Joseph Smith.
"He who possesses a knowledge of God, and a knowledge of man, will noteasily commit sin."—Talmud.
Salt Lake City, Utah.
1903.
In nothing have men so far departed from revealed truth as in theirconceptions of God. Therefore, when it pleased the Lord in these lastdays to open again direct communication with men, by a new dispensationof the gospel, it is not surprising that the very first revelationgiven was one that revealed himself and his Son Jesus Christ. Arevelation which not only made known the being of God, but the kindof a being he is. The Prophet Joseph Smith, in his account of his firstgreat revelation, declares that he saw "two personages," resemblingeach other in form and features, but whose brightness and glory defiedall description. One of these personages addressed the prophet andsaid, as he pointed to the other—
"This is my beloved Son, hear him."
This was the revelation with which the work of God in the last daysbegan. The revelation of God, the Father; and of God, the Son. Theywere seen to be two distinct personages. They were like men in form;but infinitely more glorious in appearance, because perfect and divine.The Old Testament truth was reaffirmed by this revelation—"God createdman in his own image, in the image of God created he him." Also thetruth of the New Testament was reaffirmed—Jesus Christ was shown to bethe express image of the Father's person, hence God, the Father, was inform like the Man, Christ Jesus, who is also called "the Son of Man."
Again the Old Testament truth was revealed—"The Gods said let usmake man in our image, and in our likeness." That is, more thanone God was engaged in the work of creation. Also the truth of theNew Testament was again reaffirmed—the Father and the Son are seen tobe two separate and distinct persons or individuals; hence the Godheadis plural, a council, consisting of three distinct persons, as shown atthe baptism of Jesus, and throughout the conversations and discoursesof Jesus and his inspired apostles.
All this, coming so sharply in conflict with the ideas of an apostateChristendom which had rejected the plain anthropomorphism of the Oldand New Testament revelations of God; also the scriptural doctrine of aplurality of Gods, for a false philosophy-created God, immaterial andpassionless—all this, I say, could not fail to provoke controversy;for the revelation given to Joseph Smith challenged the truth of theconception of God held by the modern world-pagan, Jew, Mohammedan andChristian alike.
It was not to be expected, then, that controversy could be avoided,though it has been the policy of the Elders of the Church to avoiddebate as far as possible—debate which so often means contention,a mere bandying of words—and have trusted in the reaffirmation ofthe old truths of revelation, accompanied by a humble testimony oftheir divinity, to spread abroad a knowledge of the true God. Still,controversy, I repeat could not always be avoided. From the beginning,"Mormon" views of Deity have been assailed. They have been denounced as"awful blasphemy;" "soul destroying;" "the lowest kind of materialism;""destructive of a